Report Indicates that Women in Technology Careers Yearn for Female Role Models and Flexibility in the Workplace, Aren’t Advocating for Themselves Enough

SALT LAKE CITY – Pluralsight, the global leader in online learning for technology professionals, and Women Who Code, a global non-profit dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers, today announced the results of a joint survey indexing the attitudes of women in technology careers. The survey was conducted in an effort to better understand what challenges women in technology professions face in the workplace, and what changes might help solve those problems.

The survey, which polled more than 1,500 women working in technology fields, indicated that they would benefit from more female role models. Responses also showed that women in tech careers are running into a number of obstacles in climbing the corporate ladder, which may be impacting their salary and long-term career trajectory.

When asked to rank the biggest challenges in their careers, respondents listed lack of opportunities for advancement first, followed closely by lack of female role models and lack of mentorship at work. More than 60 percent of female leaders agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that having more women on their teams would be beneficial.

“In the next decade, more than 75 percent of jobs in the U.S. will require technology skills,” said Alaina Percival, CEO of Women Who Code. “It’s imperative that the industry as a whole become a more welcoming and inclusive place for women who have been drastically underrepresented to date. Providing women every available opportunity and resource to succeed is crucial – both for their well being, and for the stability of the economy.”

When asked what issues they felt were holding them back in their career, respondents ranked lack of confidence as the most concerning, followed by male-dominated work environments. While 20 percent of respondents in their 20s and 30s aspire to a vice president or C-level position, more than 50 percent felt uncomfortable asking for a raise and nearly 50 percent felt uncomfortable asking for a promotion.

In addition to highlighting challenges women face once they enter technology careers, the study also looked at what needs to be done to get women into technology fields in the first place. Most notably, nearly 80 percent of women who took the survey listed flexible work hours as important to them and one in four respondents said flexible work hours was the most important factor when considering a career in tech.

“We commissioned this study to help shed light on what obstacles women working in technical roles are currently facing in the workplace,” said Aaron Skonnard, CEO of Pluralsight. “Having more women in tech has been shown to create better business results. It’s our job as an industry to create an environment in which women have access to female role models, mentors and more opportunities for advancement.”

Additional key findings of the report include:

1. Women in leadership roles reported being held back by male-dominated work environments at more than twice the rate of women in mid-level positions or below (19 percent vs. 8 percent).

2. Nearly half of respondents ages 21-49 feel that male colleagues are more likely to get promoted than female.

3. 50 percent of all respondents agree that balancing their career and personal life is challenging.

4. Only 8 percent of respondents said a startup was the "ideal organization" for them, but nearly 50 percent indicated that working in a mid-sized organization would be ideal.

The full report can be accessed here.